


Flighty

by prowlish (valkyrie_fe)



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gift Fic, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-06 07:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valkyrie_fe/pseuds/prowlish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little skirmish traps two enemies in a ruined building, and Starscream is in need of repairs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flighty

Starscream let out a string of curses when Optimus told him his night-vision was not functioning. "You are the one who fired upon me and damaged my peripheral systems," Optimus pointed out.

  


"You were walking around the dead city alone, what did you expect?" the seeker hissed back. Optimus did not reply. "At least you can  _see_ ," Starscream added in a sullen tone. " _My_  entire visual array glitched."

  


"Because the building collapsed."

  


"Yes, because the building collapsed," Starscream snapped. "And a great fat chunk of debris hit my helm. So what?"

  


Optimus shrugged, though the seeker couldn't see that. "You brought it down. That's all."

  


He got the distinct impression that Starscream was narrowing his blind optics. Truthfully, he couldn't see much better than Starscream at the moment, with only dim light from his optics and what little filtered in from outside. "Well, now that you've absolved yourself of blame, how are we going to get out of this mess?" Starscream spat.

  


We? Optimus shook his head. "I am sure my absence will be noticed soon," he replied.

  


Starscream scoffed. "You're going to sit here and  _wait_  on your little Autobots to come trotting after their Prime?!"

  


Again, Optimus met the jab with silence. "You might not have set off all the detenators in this building," he said instead.

  


That gave the seeker pause.

  


"Would I be correct to assume that these other detonators would also be in structural points?" he eventually asked.

  


"Yes," Optimus replied. "The idea was to – "

  


" – trap enemy looters and the like, yes. Bring the house down around their audios." Even though Starscream admitted to blindness, he gave an excellent mimicry of giving the surrounding rubble a derisive look. "Tell me one thing: is there space enough up there to fly?"

  


Optimus frowned and looked up. From the dull light, there appeared to be space, but... "Why?"

  


Starscream scoffed again. "Because I could fly out of here if there is."

  


"There is." Optimus frowned, looking back down at the seeker. "Then why haven't you? Surely you do not rely on vision alone to fly."

  


"Of course not," Starscream snapped with another derisive noise. The silence that followed hung heavy in the air and seemed to push further response from him. "Too many of my flight sensors got jumbled in the fall and malfunctioned like my optics."

  


"Ah."

  


There was another pause before Starscream let out a laborious sigh, as though Optimus were playing the fool. " _So,_  if you help repair my sensors, I will get us out of here without having to wait Primus knows how long for your precious Autobots to arrive."

  


Optimus frowned; questions instantly floated through his processors, not the least of which was how much he could trust Starscream. Not at all, was his opinion, but he went with a practical query all the same. "How should I know how to repair them?"

  


"Surely you know  _some_  patching skills."

  


"A little."

  


"It is not much different – my wingmates and I do it for each other frequently."

  


"So you would guide me."

  


"Yes. Will you do it?"

  


Optimus thought another moment. "Yes."

  


"Good." Optimus could hear the smile in Starscream's voice – he would wager it wasn't a very pleasant smile, either. The whirrs and clicks of a few panels opening echoed in the quiet air. Optimus looked down; in the light from his optics, he could see two panels on the seeker's back, between his wings, stood open. "They're dislodged from their places. They should be obvious."

  


"And I put them back in place."

  


"Essentially."

  


This was unexpectedly straightforward. Scooting closer, Optimus reached a hand out, but stopped when Starscream suddenly told him to wait. "Yes?" he asked, hand still extended. The seeker looked over his shoulder, despite his blindness. Those sightless optics were almost eerie.

  


"Just be careful with those big hands of yours," Starscream muttered, sneering. "There are more delicate things in there than flight sensors."

  


Optimus thought flight sensors  _were_  delicate. Oh well. "I will try," he replied, smiling wryly behind his mask. Starscream snorted and turned his head again.

  


Resisting the urge to shake his head, the Prime turned his attention back to the open panels on Starscream's back. Bending close made it easier to distinguish the various circuits and wires, and he set to work. Navigating the relatively small space with his large, blunt fingers proved difficult, but as there was no constraint on time Optimus took meticulous care.

  


At some point, one of the wings twitched, and he unconsciously reached out to still it with a gentle hand. The slight tremor against his hands woke him from his focus, and he frowned. "Sorry," Optimus murmured, releasing the edge he had grasped and slipping the wayward hand back over to where his other was still finding the dislodged sensor hookups.

  


"What for?" Starscream's wing twitched again, and Optimus nearly reached out to soothe it again.

  


"I... was not thinking," he replied, pushing on with the repairs. "It was an automatic reaction."

  


The seeker snorted. "And here you had me believing you've never done field repairs on a flying bot before."

  


"I haven't, really," Optimus replied. "I have, however, sat with wounded winged bots – or ones with wing _like_  appendages."

  


"Don't compare me with  _your_  second," Starscream retorted, his tone back to scalding. There was something else there, something Optimus couldn't quite pinpoint – and at the moment, he didn't care to. Deciphering the tones of a flighty and traitorous bot wasn't topping his list. Optimus remained silent, continuing with the repairs.

  


And again, with his mind focused on his task, when Starscream's wing would twitch, he'd reach out to gently hold it still, even pat it absent-mindedly. Even when he became aware of it again, he didn't bother to fight the impulse. Starscream evidently had no issue with it – if he were really that similar to Prowl or Bluestreak, he might even find it comforting. But Optimus was sure the seeker would eat his own glossa as soon as admit anything of the sort.

  


It wasn't until he shifted to access the second panel that he felt an edge of concern. He'd inadvertedly scraped against Starscream's side as he settled, and the other's plating was noticeably warm. Optimus frowned. Could something be wrong? He knew little of seeker physiology. Then again, given that, his concern could be misplaced – perhaps seekers always ran such a temperature. Or he could simply be embarrassed at requiring Optimus' help, even at his own suggestion. There really was no telling with Starscream.

  


Mentally shaking his head, Optimus began to work on the second panel. Starscream's wings twitched more often now. Impatience? Whatever it was, Optimus ignored it to focus on the repair, one hand hooking flight sensors back into the grid, the other still idly calming the seeker's wings. That is, until he heard Starscream's vents stutter. Pulled out of his focus again, Optimus paused, hands stilling.

  


"Starscream, are you alright?"

  


"I'm fine!" the seeker snapped. "Don't get distracted."

  


Optimus still didn't move. "But if I'm hitting injuries – "

  


"You're  _not_ ," Starscream interrupted, tone as scorching as ever. "I would have told you."

  


"Yes, but why – "

  


" _It doesn't matter,_ " Starscream hissed. "I asked you for repairs, not Autobot coddling, now get on with it!"

  


Optimus shrugged. Obviously that was going nowhere, so he went back to the flight sensors this time. Easy enough. He continued as before. Starscream continued to behave curiously – but it was  _Starscream_. Or at least that's what he told himself. Trying to analyze his behavior could come later.

  


Nearly a full cycle had passed since he started, but Optimus finally finished the work. He sat back, a pleased sigh slipping from his vents as he worked the tense joints of his wrist and fingers. "How's that?" he asked, ignoring the odd rasp of Starscream's intakes.

  


Starscream was quiet a moment, presumably running a diagnostic. Optimus could hear the faint whirr of his systems, anyway. "Adequate," he responded. "One last thing, however."

  


"Yes?" Optimus lifted his gaze as he heard the panels snap back into place.

  


"To assure they're communicating properly, there should be a physical touch," Starscream said. He seemed to struggle with each word – Optimus entertained the idea of pride actually making a bot's vocalizer glitch, but that... again didn't quite seem to fit. "I can't really reach the whole way."

  


"I see." There was a pause in which the Prime felt like there was an electric charge in the air; it was a little suffocating. "Ah, where..."

  


"Under the edges," Starscream replied. Back to terse snips, it seemed.

  


Optimus nodded, even though Starscream had no way of seeing it. Instead of correcting himself with a reply, though, he just reached out a careful hand again, pressing his fingers under the edge of Starscream's right wing and slowly drawing them out towards its tip. Once again, he was attempting caution – the only comparison he had were his Praxian soldiers, and Bluestreak had once said the edges of their sensor panels were ticklish. Which was a possible explanation for the way Starscream's wing shuddered and gave a twitch as his fingers traced along it.

  


An entirely different thought had occurred to him as well, but dealing with  _that_  would be awkward at best, so Optimus just chose to ignore it entirely. It didn't help when Starscream squirmed as Optimus switched sides and reached gently for his left wing. Or that said wing twitched even more than the other. With one hand, Optimus steadied the wing, while his other repeated the long, slow motion along its edge.

  


"There," he said softly, lifting his hands from the appendage as Starscream shuddered again and expelled a harsh vent.  _Just ticklish,_  Optimus thought, not really convincing himself. "Good?"

  


Both wings moved, waving in tandem now. "Yes," Starscream replied. Though he was still being short, his tone had something of a different quality. Optimus said nothing, only watched as the seeker stood, cautious so that his external sensors would alert him to overhanging debris.

  


"So, how do you propose getting us both out of here?" Optimus asked placidly.

  


Starscream laughed. "Yes, that  _would_  be a feat, wouldn't it?" he said. A curl of satisfaction gave the seeker's tone a lilt, though if he thought his deceit came as a surprise, he should sound disappointed instead. "Thanks for  _all_  your help, Prime – I'm sure your precious little Autobots won't take too long getting here," Starscream purred, transforming once he had ascertained the space around him. With his flight sensors, he could easily navigate his surroundings, and made a swift exit with a few blasts from his null rays.

  


Optimus stared after him for a long moment, not moving so as to not upset the ruins of the building any more. Well, it wasn't as though this outcome was one he hadn't foreseen. Starscream's treachery was infamous. More importantly, he gazed down at his hands. Had he really...?

  


Surely not.

  


Perhaps it was too much time spent around Prowl, but he couldn't overlook the obvious logic of the situation. But that didn't mean it had to go into his report – not  _all_  of it, anyway.

  


Optimus sighed and settled back against a mostly in-tact wall. Back to waiting it was.


End file.
